RR: Meyer's Gulch

Monique Y. Mudama said:

You get to the Meyer's Gulch trailhead by driving all the way up
Flagstaff Road, so it's pretty empty most days, today included. I saw
a park services guy at the trailhead asking people to complete
surveys; then I saw two mountain bikers while coming up and a group of
hikers coming down. That's about it.

It's two and a half miles up and around 800 ft (?) of elevation gain,
then turn around and head back down. Not technical; just beautiful
wildflowers and some practice climbing at altitude (about 7.5Kft). I
guess there's actually a little more climbing than the elevation
reveals, as the trail starts with a bit of descent before you actually
begin to climb.

On the way up I suspected the trail of being "sanitized", but on the
way down I saw that the trail was pretty much the same. I just don't
notice the rocks so much anymore. The one switchback I hated last
year got easier, too =) I had to stop a number of times, though, to,
er, smell the wildflowers. That's it. I would have thought I'd be
in better aerobic shape ...

The way down was the real epiphany. There are bunches of those water
ditches (a dip in the trail followed immediately by a big ol' bump),
as well as some rocks and stuff that are easier to avoid on the way
up than down. I just can't believe how much more comfortable I was
going faster down the hill, even over these little obstacles. I'm
not braking nearly as much as I used to. I used to brake before
every single little thing, then allow myself to gather some momentum
to get over it; today was just different. After I'd managed to
survive several dips and a few surprise rocks without braking, all by
getting low and back enough that I swear I could feel my saddle
through my shirt, I sat back up and found that I had a [censored]-eating
grin plastered on my face. *So* much fun.

now you have to figure out how to jump them. ;-)

Penny

On 2005-07-08, small change penned:

Quoted message said:

Monique Y. Mudama said:

After I'd managed to survive several dips and a few surprise rocks
without braking, all by getting low and back enough that I swear I
could feel my saddle through my shirt, I sat back up and found that
I had a [censored]-eating grin plastered on my face. *So* much fun.

now you have to figure out how to jump them. ;-)

Penny

I was actually wondering about this. If I don't get my body down/back
enough, the bump thrusts my body upward and forward. Fortunately, thus
far, I haven't made skin-to-ground contact because of that, but I
imagine that at higher speeds or with bigger bumps I would.

So what do you do to jump? Is it a matter of body positioning, or is
it a matter of doing something to get the bike to go up *with* your
body? Or something else?

Honestly I'm not sure I'm prepared to be jumping yet; just learning to
stick to the ground over these things is pretty cool. But hey, you
never know.

--
monique

"Get a bicycle. You will not regret it, if you live."
-- Mark Twain

Monique Y. Mudama said:

On 2005-07-08, small change penned:

Quoted message said:

Monique Y. Mudama said:

After I'd managed to survive several dips and a few surprise rocks
without braking, all by getting low and back enough that I swear I
could feel my saddle through my shirt, I sat back up and found that
I had a [censored]-eating grin plastered on my face. *So* much fun.

now you have to figure out how to jump them. ;-)

Penny

I was actually wondering about this. If I don't get my body down/back
enough, the bump thrusts my body upward and forward. Fortunately,
thus far, I haven't made skin-to-ground contact because of that, but I
imagine that at higher speeds or with bigger bumps I would.

So what do you do to jump? Is it a matter of body positioning, or is
it a matter of doing something to get the bike to go up *with* your
body? Or something else?

Honestly I'm not sure I'm prepared to be jumping yet; just learning to
stick to the ground over these things is pretty cool. But hey, you
never know.

one of the guys should answer this. I stil have to think too much about it.
The basic move is unweighting the front end and shifting your weight back
with a pull up on the handlebars.
At least that's how I would descibe it.

penny

Monique Y. Mudama said:

On 2005-07-08, small change penned:

Quoted message said:

Monique Y. Mudama said:

After I'd managed to survive several dips and a few surprise rocks
without braking, all by getting low and back enough that I swear I
could feel my saddle through my shirt, I sat back up and found that
I had a [censored]-eating grin plastered on my face. *So* much fun.

now you have to figure out how to jump them. ;-)

Penny

I was actually wondering about this. If I don't get my body down/back
enough, the bump thrusts my body upward and forward. Fortunately, thus
far, I haven't made skin-to-ground contact because of that, but I
imagine that at higher speeds or with bigger bumps I would.

So what do you do to jump? Is it a matter of body positioning, or is
it a matter of doing something to get the bike to go up *with* your
body? Or something else?

Honestly I'm not sure I'm prepared to be jumping yet; just learning to
stick to the ground over these things is pretty cool. But hey, you
never know.

Sounds nice.

Jumping water bars (their official name) is pretty easy. You know how
you use your arms and legs to suck them up in most cases? Well, if you
want to get airborne, instead of sucking them up, keep your body more
stiff as you go over them, but still in that "ready for anything"
positioning with your butt off the seat and weight back a little. Once
you get the feel for it you can get more air by compressing your body a
little before the bump, and then pushing up against it, extending as you
crest, pulling the bike up after you like a bunny hop but smoother.

Just be sure you have a nice run-out before trying it. Also beware of
flat or compressed landings as you go bigger. The best landing zones
(like skiing) will be a downward slope so you don't just splat from too
short of a transition. Oh, and I like to land, then brake. Landing with
your brakes already engaged can be trouble.

Matt

"MattB" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Monique Y. Mudama said:

On 2005-07-08, small change penned:

Quoted message said:

Monique Y. Mudama wrote:

>After I'd managed to survive several dips and a few surprise rocks
>without braking, all by getting low and back enough that I swear I
>could feel my saddle through my shirt, I sat back up and found that
>I had a [censored]-eating grin plastered on my face. *So* much fun.

now you have to figure out how to jump them. ;-)

Penny

I was actually wondering about this. If I don't get my body down/back
enough, the bump thrusts my body upward and forward. Fortunately, thus
far, I haven't made skin-to-ground contact because of that, but I
imagine that at higher speeds or with bigger bumps I would.

So what do you do to jump? Is it a matter of body positioning, or is
it a matter of doing something to get the bike to go up *with* your
body? Or something else?

Honestly I'm not sure I'm prepared to be jumping yet; just learning to
stick to the ground over these things is pretty cool. But hey, you
never know.

Sounds nice.

Jumping water bars (their official name) is pretty easy. You know how you
use your arms and legs to suck them up in most cases? Well, if you want to
get airborne, instead of sucking them up, keep your body more stiff as you
go over them, but still in that "ready for anything" positioning with your
butt off the seat and weight back a little. Once you get the feel for it
you can get more air by compressing your body a little before the bump,
and then pushing up against it, extending as you crest, pulling the bike
up after you like a bunny hop but smoother.

Just be sure you have a nice run-out before trying it. Also beware of flat
or compressed landings as you go bigger. The best landing zones (like
skiing) will be a downward slope so you don't just splat from too short of
a transition. Oh, and I like to land, then brake. Landing with your brakes
already engaged can be trouble.

Matt

And don't forget if you get the hang of what Matt's saying, you'll be going
faster than you're used to, and you'll hit the ground going pretty fast, so
be prepared for what's 10' down the trail, but whatever you do, don't panic
brake when you land.

CDB

On 2005-07-08, MattB penned:

Quoted message said:

Jumping water bars (their official name) is pretty easy.

I've heard the term "water bars," but can't that describe anything
from an embedded log in the trail to a dip like I described to a piece
of semi-rigid plastic sticking up from the trail? And then I'm not
100% clear on what "berms" are ...

Quoted message said:

You know how you use your arms and legs to suck them up in most cases?
Well, if you want to get airborne, instead of sucking them up, keep
your body more stiff as you go over them, but still in that "ready for
anything" positioning with your butt off the seat and weight back a
little. Once you get the feel for it you can get more air by
compressing your body a little before the bump, and then pushing up
against it, extending as you crest, pulling the bike up after you like
a bunny hop but smoother.

This confirms that I'll probably want to wait a bit. I still can't
reliably bunny hop over something. I'm just not practicing it like I
should be. I'm good on trails as long as my wheels don't have to
leave the ground in order to get over/down something. I'm on a
full-suspension bike, so that describes almost everything I encounter.

Quoted message said:

Just be sure you have a nice run-out before trying it. Also beware of
flat or compressed landings as you go bigger. The best landing zones
(like skiing) will be a downward slope so you don't just splat from
too short of a transition. Oh, and I like to land, then brake.
Landing with your brakes already engaged can be trouble.

Makes sense on all fronts. Landing with your brakes already engaged
.... that sounds like a recipe for disaster.

--
monique

"Get a bicycle. You will not regret it, if you live."
-- Mark Twain

On 2005-07-08, Paladin penned:

Quoted message said:

And don't forget if you get the hang of what Matt's saying, you'll
be going faster than you're used to, and you'll hit the ground going
pretty fast, so be prepared for what's 10' down the trail, but
whatever you do, don't panic brake when you land.

Good point. I'm already trying to look ahead a good deal (I bet that
has a lot to do with my perceived speed, just like skiing ... just
thought of that ...), but I'd want even more of that on a jump.

I have a feeling that it will become clear to me when I'm ready to
jump, just as it has become clear to me recently that I can handle
faster and more tricky downhills than I could before.

I'm actually thinking of springing for a private lesson with one of
the local ladies to learn how to deal with obstacles I can't just ride
over, especially uphill, although downhill obstacles near a turn
(before or after) almost always psych me out, too. I'm wondering if
any non-racers give lessons ... the racers put more emphasis on
getting through something quickly than on getting through it on your
bike, so I'd think a non-racer would be better at it. Of course, the
racers are still tons better at it than I am.

--
monique

"Get a bicycle. You will not regret it, if you live."
-- Mark Twain

On 2005-07-08, small change penned:

Quoted message said:

Monique Y. Mudama said:

So what do you do to jump? Is it a matter of body positioning, or
is it a matter of doing something to get the bike to go up *with*
your body? Or something else?

one of the guys should answer this. I stil have to think too much
about it. The basic move is unweighting the front end and shifting
your weight back with a pull up on the handlebars. At least that's
how I would descibe it.

Sounds a bit like a wheelie?

--
monique

"Get a bicycle. You will not regret it, if you live."
-- Mark Twain

Monique Y. Mudama said:

I have a feeling that it will become clear to me when I'm ready to
jump

Monique, don't listen to these bone-headed yahoos (said with affection).
God created gravity /for a reason/...

Bill "grounded" S.

Bill Sornson said:

Monique Y. Mudama said:

I have a feeling that it will become clear to me when I'm ready to
jump

Monique, don't listen to these bone-headed yahoos (said with affection).
God created gravity /for a reason/...

Bill "grounded" S.

But the reason is so we can feel it. Preferably at an undiluted rate of
9.8 m/S^2!

Matt

On 2005-07-08, Bill Sornson penned:

Quoted message said:

Monique Y. Mudama said:

I have a feeling that it will become clear to me when I'm ready to
jump

Monique, don't listen to these bone-headed yahoos (said with
affection). God created gravity /for a reason/...

Bill "grounded" S.

So maybe it's never =)

Seems like at some point, I'll jump involuntarily, so I might as well
know what happened and how to deal with it.

--
monique

"Get a bicycle. You will not regret it, if you live."
-- Mark Twain

"Monique Y. Mudama" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On 2005-07-08, Bill Sornson penned:

Quoted message said:

Monique Y. Mudama said:

I have a feeling that it will become clear to me when I'm ready to
jump

Monique, don't listen to these bone-headed yahoos (said with
affection). God created gravity /for a reason/...

Bill "grounded" S.

So maybe it's never =)

Seems like at some point, I'll jump involuntarily, so I might as well
know what happened and how to deal with it.

--
monique

"Get a bicycle. You will not regret it, if you live."
-- Mark Twain

Here's a thought on how to get started. on a fairly level trail (or
*slightly downhill*) get some speed up and practice bunnyhopping over small
obstacles, or even shadows and small sticks, working your way up to 6", 8"
or larger rocks and logs. When you get that down, start practicing getting
a "little" air on waterbars (working them the way Matt described) and
before you know it, you'll be popping up like some dudette on a Kranked
video.

CDB
Still grinning from last night's near biff experience on a waterbar...

On 2005-07-08, Paladin penned:

Quoted message said:

Here's a thought on how to get started. on a fairly level trail (or
*slightly downhill*) get some speed up and practice bunnyhopping
over small obstacles, or even shadows and small sticks, working your
way up to 6", 8" or larger rocks and logs. When you get that down,
start practicing getting a "little" air on waterbars (working them
the way Matt described) and before you know it, you'll be popping
up like some dudette on a Kranked video.

The trick is finding a trail like that =) I'm having trouble thinking
of any trails around here that are level and have obstacles like that.

Maybe I could go to Eagle and set up a few items on the dirt road,
but it gets a lot of traffic by foot, wheel and hoof, and I doubt my
fellow trail users would appreciate it.

Your suggestion is definitely the right way to go; I guess I just
gotta get off my duff and figure it out.

Too bad we have an HOA; I guess they'd object to an obstacle course in
my back yard. But maybe they wouldn't notice a couple of two by fours
.... hrm ...

Quoted message said:

CDB Still grinning from last night's near biff experience on a
waterbar...

Gotta love that feeling of savign yourself from a near-certain wipeout
=)

--
monique

"Get a bicycle. You will not regret it, if you live."
-- Mark Twain

Paladin said:

Here's a thought on how to get started. on a fairly level trail (or
*slightly downhill*) get some speed up and practice bunnyhopping over
small obstacles, or even shadows and small sticks, working your way
up to 6", 8" or larger rocks and logs.

Change " to "mm" and I'm all over it!

Bill "shadow hopper...I like it" S.

On 2005-07-08, Bill Sornson penned:

Quoted message said:

Paladin said:

Here's a thought on how to get started. on a fairly level trail
(or *slightly downhill*) get some speed up and practice
bunnyhopping over small obstacles, or even shadows and small
sticks, working your way up to 6", 8" or larger rocks and logs.

Change " to "mm" and I'm all over it!

Bill "shadow hopper...I like it" S.

Maybe we can start a "stayin' grounded" MTB club =P

--
monique

"Get a bicycle. You will not regret it, if you live."
-- Mark Twain

Monique Y. Mudama said:

On 2005-07-08, Bill Sornson penned:

Quoted message said:

Paladin said:

Here's a thought on how to get started. on a fairly level trail
(or *slightly downhill*) get some speed up and practice
bunnyhopping over small obstacles, or even shadows and small
sticks, working your way up to 6", 8" or larger rocks and logs.

Change " to "mm" and I'm all over it!

Bill "shadow hopper...I like it" S.

Maybe we can start a "stayin' grounded" MTB club =P

"In Knobs I Trust" -- otherwise there'd be little air foils down there!

(Actually, I /can/ get big air:
http://home.san.rr.com/billsornson/Sorni%20Air!.jpg -- could almost clear a
BOX of matches!)

Evil Kasorni

"Monique Y. Mudama" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On 2005-07-08, Paladin penned:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> CDB Still grinning from last night's near biff experience on a

waterbar...

Gotta love that feeling of savign yourself from a near-certain wipeout
=)

--
monique

"Get a bicycle. You will not regret it, if you live."
-- Mark Twain

Here's what happened. I'd traded bikes and was riding his uber-light,
uber-expensive boing-boing, trying to keep up with our state downhill champ
(well, sorta trying), and I hit the waterbar hot and fast, popped up pretty
good (surprised the heck out of me), and landed almost sideways to the
trail. The bike knew what to do, and it amazingly remained vertical, saving
my sorry a$$ from sudden destruction. I told Steve that he'd trained it
well, it knew how to keep from throwing the rider like a well-trained horse.

CDB

Paladin said:

"Monique Y. Mudama" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On 2005-07-08, Paladin penned:

Quoted message said:

>>CDB Still grinning from last night's near biff experience on a

waterbar...

Gotta love that feeling of savign yourself from a near-certain wipeout
=)

--
monique

"Get a bicycle. You will not regret it, if you live."
-- Mark Twain

Here's what happened. I'd traded bikes and was riding his uber-light,
uber-expensive boing-boing, trying to keep up with our state downhill champ
(well, sorta trying), and I hit the waterbar hot and fast, popped up pretty
good (surprised the heck out of me), and landed almost sideways to the
trail. The bike knew what to do, and it amazingly remained vertical, saving
my sorry a$$ from sudden destruction. I told Steve that he'd trained it
well, it knew how to keep from throwing the rider like a well-trained horse.

CDB

I've survived a similar landing before, but toasted a rear wheel. That's
always scary when you're haulin'.

Which reminds me of another air tip that you can use for skiing or
cycling. When you take off, make sure your wight is nice and centered
and you have a good "platform" stance. A good straight takeoff = a good
straight landing. Watch a good freestyle mogul skier sometime. They take
off with both feet and both poles planted facing squarely down the fall
line.

Matt (no freerider, but no stranger to hucking)

On 2005-07-08, MattB penned:

Quoted message said:

Which reminds me of another air tip that you can use for skiing or
cycling. When you take off, make sure your wight is nice and
centered and you have a good "platform" stance. A good straight
takeoff = a good straight landing. Watch a good freestyle mogul
skier sometime. They take off with both feet and both poles planted
facing squarely down the fall line.

Matt (no freerider, but no stranger to hucking)

I nearly killed myself during a ski jump lesson. I guess I was too far
back, so when I landed from what I think might have been a 4 or 6 foot
jump (it's been a while), I fell back onto my tails. My skis
immediately responded to the change in weight distribution, and I found
myself lying down on my skis, shooting head-first down the mountain. I
tried to change direction, get out, anything, but I couldn't make
anything happen, so I figured, ah well, even if I'm about to die,
there's nothing to do about it. I enjoyed the ride and stopped not much
short of a very large rock that would certainly have done serious damage
to my non-helmeted head, possibly killing me.

My instructor nearly had a heart attack.

I'm a big believer in weighting yourself properly.

--
monique

"Get a bicycle. You will not regret it, if you live."
-- Mark Twain